... and ain't I a woman?: Violence: a growing scandal
The annual Reclaim the Night march and rally celebrates its 20th anniversary in Australia this year. Arising out of the women's movement in the '70s, the first marches in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth were held in 1978 (Melbourne's first Reclaim the Night took place the following year). Since then, they have attracted thousands of anti-violence protesters each year.
Reclaim the Night originally organised as a political protest about the prevalence of violence against women and children in society. In 1977, protests occurred in England after the terror of the "Jack the Ripper" murders, against the government's advice that women must stay indoors at night.
Marches took place in other European cities and in Bombay the next year.
Whilst in Australia Reclaim the Night has maintained much of its original roots, many collectives are beginning to move beyond an "individual responsibility" approach that often characterises conservative (and anti-men in general) anti-violence campaigns.
Instead, many Reclaim the Night collectives are encouraging and fostering a focus on political and collective activism. Many have begun broadening the focus of the event and concentrating more on violence as systemic and how it manifests itself in our everyday lives — at work, at home and in a global context. This move comes at a pertinent time.
A recent report from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology highlights the importance of taking up the struggle against sexual violence against women. The report disclosed alarming community attitudes towards victims of rape and sexual abuse.
A total of 608 students aged between 17 and 21, composed of 291 high school and 317 tertiary students, participated in the study. Many of the results were disturbing, highlighting the overwhelming focus on individual responsibility for violence, rather than societal responsibility.
A significant proportion of the students held unfavourable attitudes towards victims of rape. They perceived those attacked as being responsible and behaving in a way to increase their likelihood of sexual victimisation. They were also less likely to believe a claim of rape.
Up to 62% of the students agreed that women who were assaulted while out alone or drunk were at least partly responsible. That women provoked rape by their appearance or behaviour and that healthy women could fend off an attacker if they really tried was also a common response.
The survey also revealed that more high school students than tertiary students blame victims — not the offenders — for acts of rape and assault.
A further disturbing result was that the majority of the male high school students regarded date rape as acceptable under a variety of circumstances, while more than 50% of male university students acknowledged that they might rape if they could be assured that they would not get caught.
Other responses included 69.3% of students stating a commitment to the maintenance of traditional and conservative gender roles for women. Students stated: "Women should worry less about being equal with men and more about becoming good wives and mothers", "In general, a father should have more authority than the mother in bringing up children", "Women have less to offer than men in the world of business and industry".
Such views are crucial in maintaining rigid and oppressive gender roles and the traditional nuclear family. The ideology of male dominance within the family teaches that violence, like traditional gender roles, is "natural", not socially conditioned.
Violence is produced by a certain kind of society, not by immutable human nature. Many workers in the field of sexual violence assert that society is "breeding" perpetrators and those they assault, socialising them into sexually dominant and submissive roles that are associated with stereotypical concepts of masculinity and femininity.
However, there is hope. Because violence is a social fact, it can be eliminated through social change. If we are to work towards eradicating violence from society, we must be prepared to understand where its origins lie: in the make-up of capitalist family unit; within a society which defines traditional gender roles as dominant masculine and submissive feminine; and where a lack of support structures and services ensures that violence is maintained.
The best way to challenge this is through women organising and demonstrating against all of these elements, in conjunction with other oppressed groups. Dominant ideologies can be broken down only by the struggle of the oppressed; strong alliances have the capacity to change laws and change practices.
In this vision, we need an ongoing struggle, raising the level of consciousness, understanding and education of the issues. Such a struggle is linked with a broader transformation of society.
The study at RMIT reveals more than ever the importance of building a strong women's movement that seeks to eradicate violence. Grassroots campaigns such as Reclaim the Night that seek to build mass demonstrations to bring about an end to violence can play a crucial role.
This Friday, march against violence, join the Reclaim the Night march and rally in your city! (See calendar, pages 30-31, for details.)
By Sarah Lantz